The museum extends over 1,200 square metres, displaying numerous finds and a reconstruction of the Vucedol culture, said to have launched the cultures of present-day European peoples.
"This museum will show the accomplishments of a civilisation and living standards several millennia before Christ, when the Vucedol culture spread out from this region between the Danube, the Drava and the Sava to 13 present-day European countries, from Prague to Thessaloniki, from Trieste to Montenegro and Palagruza," museum director Mirela Hutinec said.
She recalled that the construction of the museum began in 2004 and that attempts were made to disrupt the environment as little as possible.
The opening was attended, among others, by Culture Minister Berislav Sipus, Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin, War Veterans Minister Predrag Matic, and presidential envoy Aleksandar Durman, head of archeological research at the site and co-author, with Hutinec, of the display.
Durman said the site provided an opportunity to follow the development of civilisations and cultures from the first settlements onwards and reconstruct the everyday life and customs of numerous Indo-European cultures.
There are 160 Vucedol culture locations in 13 European countries, but only 15 percent of the location here has been researched, he said. "Vucedol culture is the highest standard of its time. That's when the state and the alphabet begin in Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. It seems that Europe was in the tree at that time but, luckily, it had the Vucedol culture, which was more progressive even in some technological aspects."
The museum was inaugurated by Minister Sipus, saying it was part of a project for the research, restoration and revitalisation of the Ilok-Vukovar-Vucedol cultural heritage, involving the government, the Culture Ministry and the Council of Europe Development Bank.
The museum "is an opportunity for culture, the economy, tourism, education which we mustn't miss," Sipus said, adding that the project also envisaged the construction of the Vucedol Archaeological Park.
Minister Lorencin said the ties between culture and tourism were unbreakable and that after sea and sun, culture was the next reason motivating foreign tourists to visit Croatia. "This is a world product... an attraction on the global level," he said, adding that the Tourism Ministry had asked numerous foreign TV networks to come and report about the museum.
Vukovar Town Museum director Ruzica Maric recalled that the Vucedol Dove vessel was found at Vucedol in 1938, becoming the town's symbol in 1991.
The Vucedol Culture Museum is part of the Ilok-Vukovar-Vucedol cultural restoration project, financed with a CoE Development Bank loan of nearly HRK 179 million. Croatia invested HRK 57 million and the Culture Ministry set aside an additional HRK 156 million. The museum is 5 km from Vukovar and its permanent display has been financed by the Culture Ministry with HRK 15 million.
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.6)